MANAGING COMPLEX CHANGE

Vision

Skills

Incentives

Resources

Action Plan

= CHANGE

Skills

Incentives

Resources

Action Plan

= CONFUSION

Incentives

Resources

Action Plan

= ANXIETY

Resources

Action Plan

= GRADUAL CHANGE

Action Plan

= FRUSTRATION

Vision

Vision

Skills

Vision

Skills

Incentives

Vision

Skills

Incentives

Resources

= FALSE START

Managing complex change requires FIVE COMPONENTS.

The above model illustrating the components necessary to bring about and manage complex change has applications to community coalitions.
Applying the
model to
coalitions, it takes
vision, skills,
incentives,
resources and an
action plan to get a
coalition to
produce change in
a community. If
you have all five,
you will likely end
up with change.
And, if you leave
one of the
components out,
you will likely end
up with something
different.

If you have skills, incentives, resources and an action plan but you dont have a vision that
guiding force behind what youre trying to do you will not end up with change. You will end up
with confusion because you wont have that guiding force to refer back to during the process.
If you have a vision, incentives, resources and an action plan, but leave out the skills necessary (i.e.
communication, public speaking, political or advocacy) to effect the change you seek, you will be left
with anxiety among your coalition members. If you have people who are unprepared to do the work, it
doesnt matter if they have a great vision.
If you have the vision, skills, resources and action plan, but leave out the incentives the types of
things (rewards, recognition, celebrations) that keep key community stakeholders involved you
may have change, but it will be more gradual. It may take years to years to accomplish what you
could have done in a shorter period of time.
If you have the vision, skills, incentives and action plan, but leave out the resources (money, time,
equipment), you will end up with a lot of frustration because youve got a plan, and you know how to
accomplish it, but you dont have the resources to get the job done.
If you have the vision, skills, incentive and resources, but no action plan a plan broken down into
steps that people can take and accomplish in small bits you will end up with a lot of false starts. The
members may take off in a certain direction, only to realize that an important step was skipped, forcing
them to stop their progress and go back and take care of it.

Source: The Managing Complex Change model was copyrighted by Dr. Mary Lippitt, founder and president of Enterprise Management, Ltd., is 1987.